Play Piano Activities Learning Article 5
ARTICLE #5 – PLAY PIANO TODAY
Face it! We are all getting older day by day. We are ageing. There are all sorts of theories and ideas to combat ageing and they all espouse nearly the same thing - a person must remain active in mind and body. Ideas to keep the mind active include learning a language, doing crossword puzzles, or learning to play an instrument.
Each of these activities engages the brain, but learning the piano actually goes beyond the first two activities. In fact, learning to play the piano includes learning a new language, the language of note reading, and also involves the deductive and reasoning skills of solving crossword puzzles. Beyond that, playing the piano also involves physical eye-hand coordination and the technical and physical movement of hands and feet. If research is correct, learning to play the piano should be the best way to combat ageing available.
Learning a language, using deductive and reasoning skills, increasing eye-hand coordination and refining fine motor skills at the same time is not a simple task at any age and can be daunting for the average adult. However, tackling the aspects of learning to play the piano in small bites can make this anti-ageing formula not merely a must-do task but something incredibly enjoyable and satisfying.
The pentatonic or five-note approach to learning to play the piano creates almost instant success and enjoyment. The learner who approaches the piano with absolutely no previous skills or knowledge of music reading or without having ever touched a piano can successfully play songs in a day. The technical aspect of playing the piano is introduced first using melodies created with only five keys. Beginners learn to move their fingers in patterns to create songs they know and songs others know not merely exercises.
While creating these songs the mind is engaged and starts to recognize the relationship between finger placement on the keys and sounds created, between how long a finger is held down or how quickly a key is released and rhythmic structure, and between the relationship between a pattern of notes in the right hand versus those in the left hand and melody and harmony. Once the mind is prepared in this way, the actual presentation and acquisition by the learner of these concepts is remarkably easy.
As the beginning pianist continues to learn additional melodies, their technical prowess improves, their reasoning and understanding of musical concepts becomes second nature and the introduction of the language of music, actual note reading, is accepted readily.
Step-by-step or small-bite-by-small-bite an adult can acquire the skills necessary to play the piano. Bypassing frustrating technical exercises and loads of conceptual information and note reading presented all at once, the pentatonic method aids the learner by reducing information to understandable, easy to grasp segments based on well-known melodies to play on the piano.
Face it! We are all getting older day by day. We are ageing. There are all sorts of theories and ideas to combat ageing and they all espouse nearly the same thing - a person must remain active in mind and body. Ideas to keep the mind active include learning a language, doing crossword puzzles, or learning to play an instrument.
Each of these activities engages the brain, but learning the piano actually goes beyond the first two activities. In fact, learning to play the piano includes learning a new language, the language of note reading, and also involves the deductive and reasoning skills of solving crossword puzzles. Beyond that, playing the piano also involves physical eye-hand coordination and the technical and physical movement of hands and feet. If research is correct, learning to play the piano should be the best way to combat ageing available.
Learning a language, using deductive and reasoning skills, increasing eye-hand coordination and refining fine motor skills at the same time is not a simple task at any age and can be daunting for the average adult. However, tackling the aspects of learning to play the piano in small bites can make this anti-ageing formula not merely a must-do task but something incredibly enjoyable and satisfying.
The pentatonic or five-note approach to learning to play the piano creates almost instant success and enjoyment. The learner who approaches the piano with absolutely no previous skills or knowledge of music reading or without having ever touched a piano can successfully play songs in a day. The technical aspect of playing the piano is introduced first using melodies created with only five keys. Beginners learn to move their fingers in patterns to create songs they know and songs others know not merely exercises.
While creating these songs the mind is engaged and starts to recognize the relationship between finger placement on the keys and sounds created, between how long a finger is held down or how quickly a key is released and rhythmic structure, and between the relationship between a pattern of notes in the right hand versus those in the left hand and melody and harmony. Once the mind is prepared in this way, the actual presentation and acquisition by the learner of these concepts is remarkably easy.
As the beginning pianist continues to learn additional melodies, their technical prowess improves, their reasoning and understanding of musical concepts becomes second nature and the introduction of the language of music, actual note reading, is accepted readily.
Step-by-step or small-bite-by-small-bite an adult can acquire the skills necessary to play the piano. Bypassing frustrating technical exercises and loads of conceptual information and note reading presented all at once, the pentatonic method aids the learner by reducing information to understandable, easy to grasp segments based on well-known melodies to play on the piano.